


Witch of the Wild

by edwarides



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Genre: Although..., Gen, Legend cursing, Witchcraft, Witches, but like curse words, not a magic curse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-18 00:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21685858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edwarides/pseuds/edwarides
Summary: Legend rolled his eyes, "okay, anyone else here not know what a witch is?" Then, without waiting, "Nevermind. This is boring. Your wise men were witches, you're a witch, and Wild's a witch, which is bomb, because I'm a witch too. We should form a coven."
Relationships: Irene/Link (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 184





	Witch of the Wild

It was sunset. Pastel watercolors splashed across the darkening sky and upon the smooth, reflective waters of Lake Hylia in Legend’s Hyrule. The group had set up camp. A fire was crackling merrily as they murmured and joked amongst themselves. It was turning into a tranquil, peaceful evening, fireflies drifting overhead, accompanied by the steady, high hum of croaking frogs rising up from the lakeshore. As it rippled, the lakewater caught sparks and shimmers from fairies in the grass.

Wind was telling a bawdy joke, just to scandalize the others, and it was working. Wild's cheeks had turned a bright red, Four was hiding their face, Time had a wrinkled nose and wry smile, and Legend was elbowing a snickering Warrior. “So then _she said_ ,” Wind paused a beat and leaned forward, “shiver me timbers, _if you know what I mean._ ”

There were multiple groans around the fire. The wolf put his head on the ground and his paws on his snout, warbling an exasperated groan. Wild instinctually went for his slate, snapping a picture of him in that pose.

Down at the lakeside, a little distance away, but not too far, Sky and Hyrule were by the water, unhurriedly washing the dishes from suppertime, and listening to the muted laughter of their companions. They were standing far enough away from the camp that they could have their own conversation.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to scrub them?” Sky asked Hyrule, raising the drying cloth as if to offer it in trade, “it’ll be easier on your arm.”

Hyrule shook his head, “It’s really okay. You don’t need to keep worrying,” he dipped a plate in the lake and began to scrub it with a soapy wadded cloth. He continued, “You know my arm healed days ago.” He had broken it in a nasty fall when a bouncing tektite had lunged at him from behind a tree and knocked him down a small, rocky slope. It'd sucked. But fortunately, Hyrule had been able to cast a healing spell upon himself without too much trouble. 

“Didn’t it still twinge after you healed it?” Sky insisted.

Hyrule shrugged, “maybe a little, but that was days ago. I promise it’s fine.” Then he chuckled and rinsed the soapy plate, “the only thing that hurts is my pride!”

Sky breathed out and smiled, accepting the cleaned plate from Hyrule to dry. 

“I swear, I made eye-contact with that tektite a split second before it leapt at me!” he sighed goodnaturedly, while scrubbing at the next plate, “if only I had been faster.”

“Not all of us can go on flurries like Wild,” said Sky.

“Right? He looks like a blur!” Hyrule handed over another plate, “I wonder if he can show us how he does it.”

When the two of them had finished the washing, and safely stored away the dishes, they joined the rest at the fire in quiet conversation. 

During a brief, quiet lull, Hyrule remembered to ask, “hey, Wild, how do you move so fast sometimes when you flip or jump?”

Wild tilted his head and thought about it, humming to himself. Finding language to describe it was difficult. “I think I just…” he imagined leaping back away from one of those little shrine guardians, how finely tuned the world around him became when he spotted the opening he was looking for, “I think I just focus? I mean --” he hummed again, “I tune everything else out until it’s just that and nothing else.”

“But _how_ do you focus like that? Could you train us?” 

"How?" Wild’s ears dipped an inch, and he made a little frown while he tipped his head. A span of a few seconds went by as he considered, before he ended up wringing his hands, “I don’t remember.”

The wolf leaned his head into Wild’s side, and he wrapped an arm around the beast.

“He’s just asking because he’s a slowpoke,” joked Legend, attempting to lighten the mood a little. “I bet you’re still thinking about that tektite that got the jump on you!”

“Listen, he was very sneaky!” Hyrule protested automatically.

Legend grinned and taunted, “slooowpoke!”

Hyrule rolled his eyes, but couldn't help his small smile in response. “Well, excuuuse me for wanting to be faster!”

Wild wrinkled his nose. 

Warrior began to elbow Legend in revenge for earlier, “like _you’re_ any faster, having to stop and dig through that bag of yours every two seconds!”

"That's actually useful, unlike you fixing your hair all the time," Legend responded. 

"You wouldn't --" Warrior made to retort, but was interrupted by an “Oh!” from a Wild whose ears had flicked up suddenly.

Without hesitation, Wild sprang up and grabbed the freshly-washed cooking cauldron and put it back on the fire.

Sky said, “but we just washed that!” as at that same time Wind perked up and asked, “dessert?” 

Wild ignored them and pulled a bunch of monster parts and creepy-crawlies from his slate, throwing an armful into the cauldron with a splash.

Hyrule echoed Sky, “aw, Wild, we did just wash that!” just as Wind said “gross!” with a little too much enthusiasm. 

Wild tuned them out, stirring the concoction with purpose until a glittering cloud of steam burst forth, and he laughed and scooped out a jar of the thick bluegreen liquid that he passed over to Hyrule. “Try that when you want to go fast.”

The boys all began speaking at once.

Four: “Wait, is that a potion?”  
Warriors: “You can brew potions?”   
Hyrule: “No way!”

The wolf wagged his tail and yipped.

Legend gasped, “you’re a fucking witch!” right when Wind jumped up and shouted, “I want one!” (Time tried to remind them all that now was a time for winding down, not for jittery potions. He went mostly ignored.) 

Wild’s ears went pink, “a what?”

“A witch!” insisted Legend, “you know, a witch?” He wiggled his fingers in front of him, and raised his eyebrows in a mildly condescending expression.

Wild blinked at him.

Time shot a pensive look at Legend, and asked, “you think so?” at the same time that Wind scolded, “stop calling him names, you big jerk!” And Sky rested his hand on Wild's shoulder in nonverbal support.

Legend scowled at all of them, “it’s not an insult.” He leaned back and grabbed his bag, which was always within arm's reach. “It’s fuckin' awesome.” He tapped the side of his nose at Time, then he dug through the pack and produced monster parts of his own. “I’ve been saving this shit for _forever_ , and it’s starting to smell. Haven’t seen Maple or Syrup in ages.” And under his breath, he muttered, "or seasons."

Wild looked disgusted and intrigued, “maple syrup made with monster parts?”

“What? No!” Legend said, stacking monster part upon monster part, tails upon horns upon guts. “Potions! You make potions, like witches do!”

Wild still looked disgusted and intrigued, but also a little disappointed. “But can I make maple syrup with monster parts?" he nodded mostly to himself, "I mean, I made monster cake once, so probably.”

“What.”

“And stew, and soup, and rice balls, and -- and curry!” Wild looked about ready to cook a second dinner, sneaking glances at the washed cauldron.

Four was the one to ask, "you made cake out of monster parts?" His face failed to settle on an expression.

Wild's face, on the other hand, lit up and he nodded eagerly. 

Legend gingerly laid one last set of guts at the top of the comically large pile in front of him. “Okay, not the point. Do you somehow not know what a witch is, or what?”

Time interjected with an explanation, disapproval at Legend’s legendary condescension clear on his face, “Witches are magic-users --”  
  
He was immediately interrupted by Hyrule, who started and said, “but I’m not a witch!” 

Time patiently tried to continue, "-- magic-users who --" 

“Yes, you are!” Legend crossed his arms and looked pointedly at his successor. 

Hyrule frowned, "I am?" 

Legend scoffed, "you cast spells, hello? You're a witch."

Hyrule blinked, then shook his head in denial, "I learned magic from the wise men, not witches."

Legend rolled his eyes, "okay, anyone else here not know what a witch is?" Then, without waiting, "Nevermind. This is boring. Your wise men were witches, you're a witch, and Wild's a witch, which is bomb, because I'm a witch too. We should form a coven." 

“You -- wait, _really?_ ”   
  
“Yes, _really_. I fly a broom. I use magic. I’m a fuckin' witch,” Legend said with the simple exasperation of having his point so belayed.

This statement was met with some more excitement. 

All at the same time, Four glanced towards Legend's bag, asking “wait, what broom?” Sky sat up, and said, “You can fly?” The wolf thumped his tail on the ground and yipped. And Hyrule's eyes grew wide before he furrowed his brow, "since when do _you_ know magic?" 

Warrior leaned back and cocked a brow. "Oh yeah? Prove it."

Legend, never one to turn down a challenge, especially when he had a chance to show up Warrior, dug through his bag until he drew a bell and with exaggerated poise, rang it over his head, smirking.

At first, nothing happened, and Legend's smirk started sinking into a scowl. But then, a sharp voice was projected all around, “Geez, at this time of night, Greenie? After disappearing off the face of the world?”

A blue-haired girl in a tall, black hat flew into their camp on a broom in a gust of wind, shocking several of the Links into jumping up and drawing their weapons, to which she paid no heed.

“My gram’ll have my _head_ for going out so late!”   
  
Legend put his hands up, “Irene!”

“My gram’ll have _your_ head for leaving without saying nothing!”

“I thought you’d be asleep!”  
  
“I _was_ asleep! You inconsiderate --”

Legend spread his hands placatingly, and opened his mouth to reply, but Warriors elbowed him (again) while sheathing his sword, and spoke up, “I apologize on behalf of, uh, Link here. He just can't seem to help how rude he is!”

Legend balled up his fists and opened his mouth to reply once more, but succeeded only with a quick "Whoa!" as Irene swivelled in midair, nearly kicking Legend in the head. He sloppily ducked under her, abandoning his retort. Irene aimed the broom handle right at Warrior’s face, the tip of it nearly touching the tip of his nose. He went cross-eyed looking at it. “You say one more mean thing about Greenie, I’ll give you _what for_!”

“But you --”  
  
Irene swivelled again, and this time, both Legend _and_ Warrior had to hurriedly duck to avoid getting hit.

The handle now pointed directly at Legend’s face, and he leaned back slightly away from it.

“My gram’s been worrying about your stupid face. She didn’t say nothin’, but I can tell!” she said in a pitched tone, then coughed and tried to put on an aloof air, “and I guess maybe I’ve been a little curious where you’ve been, too. What gives? I checked all over. I even checked Lorule! Big mistake, too, cuz Ravio's got on my case! He even hitched a ride back with me and went to check out your place himself!”

Legend opened his mouth a third time -- but before he could get in more than a "hey, watch it!" Irene swivelled around once more, knocking Legend right over. Warriors dodged her by the skin of his teeth. She put her hands on her hips and looked at their silent audience, “Boy, it reeks, too! Who the heck are all of you?”

The Links made their introductions with the junior witch, including a brief explanation of how they came through gates in time and space. From his new spot on the ground, Legend tried to justify to Irene why he had stacked up a disgusting pile of monster parts, and why he had called on her so late. 

“I need to win a challenge,” he said, shifting into a reclining position on the ground right where he had sprawled, an echo of what Ravio may have been doing back at home. 

“Oh, really?” she said, jerking her head so her earrings glinted, and she looked down at him unimpressed.

He waved a hand in the air, “I need to prove that I’m a witch!”

"What's that got to do with me?" 

“Nothing, I just need your broom.”

Irene burst into laughter. 

“But you’re _not_ a witch, greenie! You’re a junior witch’s _apprentice_ ! What, you think I teach you one thing and you’re qualified to call yourself a witch? _Please_ , I’ve been in training with my gram for years, and I’m _still_ a junior!”

"Guess that's that," said Warrior, to Legend’s extreme dismay.

Legend rearranged his face into a smug look that he shot right back at Warrior, “no, it's not, because Wild’s still a witch, like I said. He can brew potions like the best of them.” Legend turned and fixed Wild with an expectant look. "Isn't that right?"

Wild clutched the ladle to himself. 

Warrior merely looked to Irene, who wrinkled her nose, and spun in midair to face Wild, “well, show me then, kid. I’m sick of this stench anyhow!”

Time interjected, "it's awfully late for this," but seemed to go unheard. 

Wild opened his mouth, then snapped it shut and got to work. The tips of his ears grew pink as everyone watched him throw the ingredients in the cauldron, Wind, Four, and Sky cheering him on. But he knew he couldn’t brew anything while distracted like this, so he hummed to drown everything else out and focused intently on the bubbling concoction. As it began to emulsify, eye-of-hearty-lizard and toe-of-tireless frog, he bounced on his feet a little in anticipation. 

The sky had gone truly dark, and a handful of bright stars winked through the inky black clouds that blanketed the night sky. Lone keese flitted about all around them, unconcerned. A single firefly drifted by Wild, and the air seemed to coalesce around him. The other Links found themselves holding their breaths. 

Suddenly, a new cloud of sparkling steam burst forth from the cauldron! Wild laughed, triumphant, then blushed again when he looked up and saw everyone's eager faces.

The wolf barked in encouragement. Legend looked unbearably smug. 

Irene finally landed and stepped over to the cauldron. She leaned over and took a great, big sniff. “It’s a red potion! Not bad, but to be honest, that’s pretty easy!”

“I -- I always called it a hearty elixir,” Wild told her, bouncing on the balls of his feet, both hands gripping the ladle. 

She shrugged and put her hands on her hips, “same difference. Show me something cooler!”

"Ah," Wild glanced at Time, who merely looked resigned but amused. 

Irene snapped, "hello?" 

Wild jumped to attention, immediately stymied because the pot he needed to use was still full, “Um.”

Wind jumped up with a jar in hand, “I want some!” 

Four jumped up as well, “me too!”

“Well, let’s go, mister!” said Irene, “You think I got all night?”

Wind snickered something to Four, as Wild jumped to again. He distributed all the red potion, before turning to Legend's pile of parts and shaking his head. “These aren’t good enough.” ("Excuse me?" muttered Legend, who was ignored by everyone.) 

Wild once again whipped out his slate and summoned some exotic ingredients not found in Legend’s Hyrule. 

The trial was on.

She made demands, and he made potions. Before too long, everyone had more jars than they could count, with a whole variety of potions and elixirs. They were astounded (maybe less so because of his potion-making ability, and more so because of his seemingly bottomless supply of jars and vials, but still). 

“Wow, you really know your stuff!” Irene said, “I proclaim you a witch!”  
  
Legend protested quietly, “you can’t do that, you’re a junior yourself!” Hyrule was starting to fall asleep beside him, and Four was also stifling a yawn. The fire was beginning to die down a little, and Warrior put a few more logs upon it and chuckled, "I thought you _wanted_ her to say he's a witch?" 

Irene giggled and said, "he's just jealous," then she turned her nose up at Legend, “my gram is a master witch, and I’ve known her for years, so I can call it like I see it!” She winked at Wild, then tossed her head,“I'm the best witch of my generation, and besides, I outrank you.”

Legend rolled his eyes and dryly grumbled under his breath. Hyrule's eyes slipped closed again. 

“Witch of the Wild!” she snapped.

Wild straightened his back. Hyrule blinked awake beside Legend. 

“I hereby issue you one standard witch hat!” and with that pronouncement, she pulled a tall, wide-brimmed hat out of a little pocket in her black dress (magic space like Legend’s bag), and thrust the hat upon Wild’s head. “You’re lucky I carry a spare!”

Legend was scandalized, “hey! He didn’t even have to apprentice!” Hyrule stifled a yawn. 

Irene considered this. “Did you apprentice as a junior witch?”

Wild shrugged, distracted by the excitement of winning a new trial’s prize.

“Good enough for me!” she said, smoothing down her skirt, “but you should see my gram anyway. She’s a master after all, and her potions can’t be beat!”

"Guess you win after all," Hyrule mused quietly to Legend. It was a pyrrhic victory for the pink-haired hero. After all, he'd been told he wasn't a witch at all, which was very rude because it wasn't true. "No," he grumbled a little jealously, " _Wild_ won. He got the cool hat." 

"Your hat's pretty cool," murmured Hyrule, half asleep. 

"Yeah, but I could have had that hat, _too_ ," grumbled the hoarder. Hyrule was too sleepy to do more than hum in response. He may or may not have started dreaming up a picture of a blasé Legend with a tall stack of different cool hats upon his head. 

“Could you teach _me_ to be a witch?” interjected an excited Wind, who wasn't tired at all. (Warrior was distracted by Wild pointing at his hat and nonverbally asking for approval; he gave the witch a fashion thumbs-up.) The wolf grumbled and Time found himself agreeing with the grumbly sentiment. 

Irene huffed, “look, she’s already got an apprentice, _me_ . I’m just making an exception here ‘cause the witch of the wild is clearly already a pro. And _I’ve_ already got an apprentice, too, even if he can’t fly a broom properly.”

Legend flushed, “I can so!”

Irene smiled wide at him, “you’re supposed to get on _top_ of the broom!”

“Clutching the bristles is how you taught me to do it!”

“Yeah, cause I only have one broom, and I was on it! But when I enchanted it to respond to you, I wasn’t on it!”

Warrior began to rib Legend a little for this. 

Meanwhile, Wind turned to Wild, “then maybe _you_ can teach me?” 

Wild shrugged helplessly. 

Legend shook his head and talked over Warrior, stating, “no, _I_ can teach you.”

Wind pouted, “But you don’t even know how to brew potions! You tried to give your ingredients to Wild!”

And that was true, so Legend had no choice but to ignore him.

"Your loss." 

"I wouldn't take the offer lightly," Time advised Wind with a raised brow. 

“Anyway,” Legend grumbled, regretting everything, “it’s late and I’m tired. You should go home before your gram starts looking for you, Irene.”

“Yikes, you're right! I gotta fly!” she shot straight up on her broom, but hesitated a moment, suspended in a gentle breeze. "Everyone is really worried about you, Greenie. I mean _I_ wasn't worried or anything, just figured you'd got on some new adventures like you always do. But you better go see the Princess, and that blacksmith, and Ravio, and everybody, or I'll never hear the end of it."

Legend nodded, a little overwhelmed. 

Time answered, "We'll make sure he does." 

Irene smiled, and without further ado, she flew away, shouting, “and don’t forget to visit, Greenie and friends!”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Legit, I got high and wrote this, then tried to edit sober. It took a lot of editing since I jumbled up all the names. It's way harder than I thought to juggle 10 different characters in a scene. If I keep writing in this universe, I'll have to split them up!


End file.
